CSIR Science Scope

Driving is an ordinary task, undertaken by ordinary people every day. A driving license constitutes a symbol of freedom. But with this freedom comes a risk and a responsibility to manage that risk for the driver, passengers and other road users. Human error is the most significant contributor to road traffic crashes in South Africa. Yet little is known about the human factors that contribute to the carnage on our roads. The CSIR naturalistic driving studies laboratory aims to help change this.

A road is designed to last between 20 and 30 years if constructed and maintained correctly. This implies that when a new material or design is developed, a trial section needs to be built to evaluate how it responds to being subjected to traffic for many years – a costly and time-consuming approach. The CSIR’s heavy vehicle simulator is a mobile laboratory used by decision-makers and road builders to apply and monitor the effect of 20 years of traffic to a road section in just three months.

The CSIR’s coastal and hydraulics laboratory is used as a design tool where engineers and scientist can build smallscale versions of planned coastal infrastructure and its surrounding area. The coastal processes and wave conditions are then simulated to test the performance of the planned infrastructure as well as the unintended impact such structures may have on the surrounding coastline and coastal processes. The impact of future climate change can also be tested in these physical models.